The Longest Night (Angel novel)

infobox Book |
name = The Longest Night
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption = First edition cover
author = (Various)
illustrator =
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Angel novels
genre = Horror novel
publisher = Pocket Books
release_date = December 2, 2002
english_release_date =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pages = 432 pp
isbn = ISBN 0-7434-4981-9
preceded_by = Vengeance (Angel novel)
followed_by = Endangered Species (Angel novel)

The Longest Night is a collection of short stories based on the U.S. television series "Angel".

:Note: Not to be confused with the Angel episode, "Long Day's Journey", or the Angel comic, "Long Night's Journey"

Plot summary

It's December 21, and hour by hour Angel and his crew must survive the longest night of the year.

The House Where Death Stood Still

Written by: Pierce Askegren

Setting: December 21, 2002, 6pm-7pm

A quest for a missing child taken by his father leads Angel to a house where the father has made a pact. In return for a human sacrifice each winter solstice, both father and son could live forever.

A Joyful Noise

Written by: Jeff Mariotte

Setting: December 21, 2002, 7pm-8pm

A group is killing Santas and replacing them with their own people so that the sound of their bells can open a rift in space-time and allow a demon to eat the Earth.

I Still Believe

Written by: Christopher Golden

Setting: December 21, 2002, 8pm-9pm

Angel needs help from Cordelia - 4 days before Christmas and he still hasn't done his shopping. But he really is planning a surprise gift for her. They must deal with demonic chaos.

It Can Happen to You

Written by: Scott Ciencin and Denise Ciencin

Setting: December 21, 2002, 9pm-10pm

Wesley meets two ghosts from the early Hollywood era who lead him to a better understanding of his life.

Model Behaviour

Written by: Emily Oz

Setting: December 21, 2002, 10pm-11pm

Cordelia is invited to become a model, but there is a catch.

Have Gunn, Will Travel

Written by: Nancy Holder

Setting: December 21, 2002, 11pm-12pm

Notes

The title is a pun on Have Gun — Will Travel, a popular Western TV series which ran in the 1950s and 1960s.

Generous Presence

Written by: Yvonne Navarro

Setting: December 21, 2002, midnight-1am

Having Lilah Morgan send presents was a good idea. Lilah sends Christmas presents to all, but of course she is not playing nice - it's a ploy to test their resolve.

The Anchoress

Written by: Nancy Holder

Setting: December 22, 2002, 1am-2am

A group of wannabe Druids builds a stone circle to sacrifice a virgin. Time-traveling adventures ensue.

Bummed Out

Written by: Doranna Durgin

Setting: December 22, 2002, 2am-3am

Something is killing the down-and-outs, and Angel and Co. go undercover to save the day (or night in this case).

Icicle Memories

Written by: Yvonne Navarro

Setting: December 22, 2002, 3am-4am

An ice demon shows up in the hotel and plays with people's memories.

Yoke of the Soul

Written by: Doranna Durgin

Setting: December 22, 2002, 4am-5am

Christmas carolers are being taken as hosts for a demon race. After freeing the singers and defeating the demons, Angel feels like singing - and does.

The Sun Child

Written by: Christie Golden

Setting: December 22, 2002, 5am-6am

The creatures of the night are trying to prevent the new day from starting, and only Angel can ensure the new dawn.

Notes

*Tagline: 'Evil arrives on the hour.'
*Characters include: Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne.
*The book is unique, the only anthology of "Angel" short stories. The book is labeled 'Vol. 1', suggesting further volumes were a possibility, but none were released. There is also an anthology of "Buffy" short stories in the form of How I Survived My Summer Vacation (which also was labeled Volume 1 despite further installments never appearing).
*Jeff Mariotte explained why the stories do not reference each other:

::"We didn't get to read each other's stories, we just knew a tiny bit about what would happen in the ones before and after ours. So, for instance, I mentioned in the very end of mine that Angel knew he had to go do some last-minute shopping. But we knew it wouldn't flow exactly right, because if it did then it would be a novel by a buncha different writers, and not a collection of short stories." [http://thebronze.damic.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=162&st=15 1]

Continuity

*Supposed to be set early in Angel Season 3 - more specifically, December 21, 2002, between 6pm and 6am the next morning.

Canonical issues

:main|Buffyverse canon

:"Buffy"/"Angel" books such as this one are not usually considered by fans as canonical. Some fans consider them stories from the imaginations of authors and artists, while other fans consider them as taking place in an alternative fictional reality. However unlike fan fiction, overviews summarizing their story, written early in the writing process, were 'approved' by both Fox and Joss Whedon (or his office), and the books were therefore later published as officially "Buffy"/"Angel" merchandise.

Timing

*Stories that take place around the same time in the Buffyverse:

References

# [http://thebronze.damic.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=162&st=15 1 The Bronze Forum]

External links

Reviews

* [http://litefoot1969.bravepages.com/sf/angel/novels/16.htm "Litefoot1969.bravepages.com" - Review of this book by Litefoot]
* [http://www.shadowcat.name/book0526.html "Shadowcat.name" - Review of this book]